Many animals including pets and livestock have an instinctual urge to lick wounds. Licking wounds may be effective in limited circumstances to help with the wound healing process. Enzymes in an animals mouth can help keep a wound clean and potentially disinfect a wound. However, it is generally accepted in the veterinary community that with the advent of modern disinfectants and antibiotics wound licking by an animal is in most cases detrimental, since the mechanical process of licking tends to prolong the healing process risking later infection. In cases of surgeries in particular, wound licking by an animal may be especially injurious. Moreover, an animal's habitual licking of its skin may lead to a serious skin disorder such as Acral Lick Granulomas or Acral Lick Dermatitis. In the worst cases, animals classified as “obsessive habitual lickers” may aggressively continue to a lick a wound to such extent that limb amputation is required or the animal's life is lost.
Special collars have been attached to certain animals to prevent them from seeing and reaching a wound. However, such devices are awkward and frequently limit an animal's visibility, potentially endangering the animal. Moreover, it is not practical to use such collars on all types of animals. Various sprays and lotions have also been developed to be applied near a wound to discourage animal licking. However, these compositions are easily removed and may actually encourage animal licking by triggering an animal's instinctual urge to clean its body of foreign substances.
It would be desirable to provide a simple and practical device or method for preventing wound licking by animals which can be implemented easily on many different types of animals.